A consortium of five Macedonian companies has started building a 36 km gas pipeline section between Shtip and Negotino, worth a total of 16 million euro, the country's ruling party VMRO-DPMNE said.
The construction is expected to be completed by the end of next year, the party said in a statement, published on Tuesday.
The consortium comprises construction companies Rapid Build, ELTE Engineering, Spektartermo, Chakar & Partners, and Kvalitet Prom.
The Shtip-Negotino section will be linked with the 61 km Klecovce-Shtip pipeline, which was completed last month.
The country's gasification will boost its economic growth, prime minister Emil Dimitriev underlined. By 2019, Macedonia will have built 265 km of its gas pipeline system. This means that six more sections remain to be built: Shtip-Radovish-Strumica-Gevgeliya, Shtip-Kochani-Vinica, Shtip-Sveti Nikole-Veles, Strumica-Novo Selo, Gostivar-Kichevo, and Kichevo-Ohrid-Struga-Kafasan.
Next week, the government plans to apply in Budapest for gas supply from international suppliers, deputy energy minister Hristiyan Delev said.
